diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 65e0e1b..5d4f475 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -117,29 +117,6 @@ check_PROGRAMS = $(TESTS)
 # specify common LDADD options for all tests
 LDADD = src/libtrexio.la
 
-# in principal, specifying -no-install (see below) is not mandatory
-# for the tests to compile and pass, but the produced test binaries differ
-tests_open_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_num_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_float_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_int_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_safe_dset_float_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_str_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_str_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_overwrite_all_text_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_all_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-
-if HAVE_HDF5
-tests_open_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_num_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_float_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_int_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_safe_dset_float_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_str_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_io_dset_str_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-tests_overwrite_all_hdf5_LDFLAGS = -no-install
-endif
-
 
 test_trexio_f = $(srcdir)/tests/trexio_f.f90